photo: © IIHF
Every year, during the men’s top division Ice Hockey World Championship, another popular takes place in the host city, namely the IIHF Coaching Symposium. Its history dates to the 1980s, even though it hasn’t always been a regular staple of the program.
This year, almost 250 coaches from almost 30 countries flocked to a downtown Stockholm hotel for two days of presentations that will help and inspire them in their work around the world.
In Stockholm, there was also a special track for goalie coaches.
Among the dozen speakers there were representatives from Finland, Canada, and the US, and naturally, the host country Sweden.
“We’re not telling anyone one way to coach, but we hope that the information they get here helps the coaches reflect on how they work so that they can implement it in their work so that it works in their cultures and communities,” says Kalle Valiaho, IIHF Development Director.
“I think one trend we can see is that a safe environment helps the players to perform best, and that a coach is not there to tell players how to play certain situations on the ice, but to help them solve them with the help they’ve got from the coaches. It’s not table hockey where coaches move the players as they please,” he adds with a smile.
With new generations of players, there have also come new generation coaches, with new styles, and new ways of working, says Valiaho.
“The coach is no longer a sage, the person who's telling everybody what to do, a coach should be more a guide on the side,” added Heather Mannix, USA Hockey, Manager, Education and Player Development, one of the speakers.
In her presentation, Mannix talked about creating game-like situations in practices, and manipulating the players’ environment so they get exposed to new situations.
“You're guiding them, you're able to coach hockey and not just the drill and I think that's what you see like traditionally a lot of feedback was coaches like they were they were stopping blowing the whistle and fixing the drill. Now it’s more of ‘what decision did you just make and which read forced you to make that decision?’,” she said.
But she was in Stockholm not just to impart wisdom, but also to gain it.
“Every time I come to a coaching conference, I try to pull something away, and I always leave with pages and pages of notes. It's very exciting to be take pull away from these experts,” she said.
The IIHF Coaching Symposium is just one piece of a gigantic puzzle, but it’s one that is appreciated. As Valiaho puts it, the IIHF helps the member federations who in turn will help the clubs in their counties.
“We just updated our Coach Development Framework (CDF) to help coaches to think about coaching from different aspects. Also, we will publish IIHF Coach Education Framework (CEF) soon that will our members, Member National Association to develop their coaching education programs. Both will be available in the IIHF Development Hub," he says.
The two-day seminar was emceed by Mike Helber, a former pro player in the Swedish league, then a GM of his Linkoping in Sweden, a TV analyst, and now a strategic sports director at the Swedish federation.
“The Ice Hockey World Championships is, in my opinion, one of the greatest places to bring together the hockey world. And we got to hear from Australia, for example, about their 4,000 players in Australia, which I didn't know, and we want the game to grow all over the world. This symposium gives coaches from even the smaller countries an opportunity to learn from the best coaches in the world,” Helber said.
“Also, for an individual coach, they get the network with other here, and while the hockey world is small, you have to know people to be able to move to different countries, and especially in Europe.”
Was there anything that made the director of strategy in Swedish hockey go, “hmmm?”
“Yes. Bethany Brausen, the head coach of St. Thomas Women’s Hockey, gave an interesting presentation on now the second period is the most important period of the game, and she had the statistics to back it up. The coaching staff has to be extremely focused and have a great game management in the second period due to the fact you have to have to make the right changes. But also, that you can practice your releases from your own zone,” he said.
According to Valiaho, planning for the 2026 symposium has already started with the Swiss federation.
“This is a tradition,” he concludes.
This year, almost 250 coaches from almost 30 countries flocked to a downtown Stockholm hotel for two days of presentations that will help and inspire them in their work around the world.
In Stockholm, there was also a special track for goalie coaches.
Among the dozen speakers there were representatives from Finland, Canada, and the US, and naturally, the host country Sweden.
“We’re not telling anyone one way to coach, but we hope that the information they get here helps the coaches reflect on how they work so that they can implement it in their work so that it works in their cultures and communities,” says Kalle Valiaho, IIHF Development Director.
“I think one trend we can see is that a safe environment helps the players to perform best, and that a coach is not there to tell players how to play certain situations on the ice, but to help them solve them with the help they’ve got from the coaches. It’s not table hockey where coaches move the players as they please,” he adds with a smile.
With new generations of players, there have also come new generation coaches, with new styles, and new ways of working, says Valiaho.
“The coach is no longer a sage, the person who's telling everybody what to do, a coach should be more a guide on the side,” added Heather Mannix, USA Hockey, Manager, Education and Player Development, one of the speakers.
In her presentation, Mannix talked about creating game-like situations in practices, and manipulating the players’ environment so they get exposed to new situations.
“You're guiding them, you're able to coach hockey and not just the drill and I think that's what you see like traditionally a lot of feedback was coaches like they were they were stopping blowing the whistle and fixing the drill. Now it’s more of ‘what decision did you just make and which read forced you to make that decision?’,” she said.
But she was in Stockholm not just to impart wisdom, but also to gain it.
“Every time I come to a coaching conference, I try to pull something away, and I always leave with pages and pages of notes. It's very exciting to be take pull away from these experts,” she said.
The IIHF Coaching Symposium is just one piece of a gigantic puzzle, but it’s one that is appreciated. As Valiaho puts it, the IIHF helps the member federations who in turn will help the clubs in their counties.
“We just updated our Coach Development Framework (CDF) to help coaches to think about coaching from different aspects. Also, we will publish IIHF Coach Education Framework (CEF) soon that will our members, Member National Association to develop their coaching education programs. Both will be available in the IIHF Development Hub," he says.
The two-day seminar was emceed by Mike Helber, a former pro player in the Swedish league, then a GM of his Linkoping in Sweden, a TV analyst, and now a strategic sports director at the Swedish federation.
“The Ice Hockey World Championships is, in my opinion, one of the greatest places to bring together the hockey world. And we got to hear from Australia, for example, about their 4,000 players in Australia, which I didn't know, and we want the game to grow all over the world. This symposium gives coaches from even the smaller countries an opportunity to learn from the best coaches in the world,” Helber said.
“Also, for an individual coach, they get the network with other here, and while the hockey world is small, you have to know people to be able to move to different countries, and especially in Europe.”
Was there anything that made the director of strategy in Swedish hockey go, “hmmm?”
“Yes. Bethany Brausen, the head coach of St. Thomas Women’s Hockey, gave an interesting presentation on now the second period is the most important period of the game, and she had the statistics to back it up. The coaching staff has to be extremely focused and have a great game management in the second period due to the fact you have to have to make the right changes. But also, that you can practice your releases from your own zone,” he said.
According to Valiaho, planning for the 2026 symposium has already started with the Swiss federation.
“This is a tradition,” he concludes.